I share the real-life stories that inspired my books, as well as other travel adventures, and posts on the food, history, and culture of the Southwest United States.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

An #MFRWHooks for Counterfeits: An Art Theft #Romance & #Suspense

“Kris Bock is a mystery mastermind.” – Readers Favorite Reviews

Jenny returns to her grandparents’ art camp in a remote New
Mexico town after her grandmother’s sudden death. That night she wakes to the
noise of intruders. What do the strangers want? As more bizarre events unfold,
Jenny realizes the people she thought she knew are not what they seem – least
of all Rob, an old friend whose past may be coming back to haunt them all.

“Counterfeits is
the kind of romantic suspense novel I have enjoyed since I first read Mary
Stewart’s Moonspinners, and Kris Bock
used all the things I love about this genre. Appealing lead
characters, careful development of the mysterious danger facing one or both of
those characters, a great location that is virtually a character on its own,
interesting secondary characters who might or might not be involved or
threatened, and many surprises building up to the climax.” 5 Stars – Roberta at
Sensuous Reviews blog

Downstairs,
a door closed. Jenny clutched the blanket. Imagination be damned. She was not
alone.

For
a long moment, she sat frozen. During her ten years in New York City, she had
never been burglarized or mugged. It seemed impossible that such a thing should
happen now, here, in an off-season art camp five miles outside of Jemez
Springs, New Mexico.

Maybe
it was someone her grandmother knew. But what were they doing there in the
middle of the night? And if they’d come to see Jenny, they should have knocked,
rung the bell. Waited for morning. Anyway, who knew she was there? Even Ms.
Lucena didn’t know when she was supposed to arrive. She hadn’t told anyone her
travel plans; she’d just gone.

She
had to do something. Jenny rose and eased open the bedroom door, praying she
had somehow been mistaken, that everything would make sense if… when…. She
couldn’t imagine a benign explanation.

She
stood with her ear to the crack and heard a low chuckle, and then a male voice.
She couldn’t tell if the laugh and the voice were the same person. Either way,
that suggested two or more people, at least one of them male.

Why
would a man be laughing in her grandmother’s house, in the middle of the night,
two days after her grandmother’s death? No good reason came to mind.

She
fumbled for her phone on the bedside stand. But even before she activated the
screen, she gave a frustrated grunt. She wouldn’t get reception here. The only
place in camp that got cell phone reception was the southeast corner of the
parking lot. The landline was downstairs, in the kitchen.

Something
crashed in a room below. Jenny jumped and dropped her phone. It hit her thigh,
then her foot, and went skittering under the bed with a faint scrape against the
wood floor.

A
man was swearing downstairs. Hopefully that had covered up any sound she’d
made. Jenny clenched her hands to control the trembling. She couldn’t imagine
her grandmother being friendly with anyone who swore like that.

She
had to get out of the house. She wouldn’t wait upstairs for the burglars, if
that’s what they were, to find her. If she could get to her car – damn. Her
keys were in her purse, which was downstairs on the living room couch. So she
couldn’t drive, but she could still go to the Lodge, break in if she had to.
Use the phone in the office, call the police.

Still
shaking, Jenny crouched and felt along the floor for her shoes. She was wearing
flannel pajama bottoms and a tank top; no need to waste time putting on
clothes. She was already cold, but her jacket was downstairs, lying over her
purse on the couch. It didn’t matter. She just had to get out.

Jenny
slipped from the room and down the hall. She paused at the top of the stairs,
which were open to the living room on one side. She had to figure out where the
intruders were, so she didn’t walk right into their arms. She stood taut,
senses straining.

A
screech sounded, maybe a chair leg on tile, and then kitchen cabinets clattered
open and closed. The kitchen was as far away as they could get from the front
door. But were they both – or all, if there were more than two – back there?

What
choice did she have? If they kept going through the house, eventually they
would find her. She refused to think about what that might mean. She had to get
out.

Kris Bock writes novels of suspense and romance
with outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Whispers in the
Dark features archaeology and intrigue among ancient Southwest
ruins. What We Found is a mystery with strong romantic
elements about a young woman who finds a murder victim in the woods. The Mad Monk’s Treasure follows the hunt for a long-lost treasure in the New Mexico
desert. In The Dead Man’s Treasure, estranged relatives compete to
reach a buried treasure by following a series of complex clues. In The
Skeleton Canyon Treasure, sparks fly when reader favorites Camie and Tiger
help a mysterious man track down his missing uncle.